Truck Festival - Sunday (Day three)

Cashier No. 9 starts off this hot and sunny Sunday on the clash stage. It’s a great way to start the day with some beautiful Bright eyes style Pop/Rock
4 stars

Off to the last fm stage to catch Mitchell Museum, I am quite excited to be seeing these guys as I have heard a couple of sessions they have done for Marc Riley. I am therefore surprised to see a half empty tent. What we get is unadulterated rock pop with some Scottish humour thrown in. The stand out song for me is Tigers Heart Beat which got the small crowd singing along. They had a small issue with their sampler that just added to the fun. Hopefully we will see more of them very soon
4 stars

Caitlin Rose is next on the main stage, her mother is the country singer Liz Rose and there is so surprise that this is a pure Nashville set, the small crowd seem to enjoy themselves but it leaves me a bit cold I am afraid
3 stars

The time has come to see Little Fish again, this time they are playing the tiny merchandise tent. Unfortunately their technical problems continue and this time their keyboard breaks down completely. Not even an impromptu service by Tim can save the day. They struggle on though with tim playing a borrowed harmonica. Juju (Julia) is so relaxed about the whole thing it feels like she is playing to a group of mates and delivers one strong performance after another. Many artists would have cracked over the problems they have been having this weekend but it only makes Little Fish more fun to watch.
4 stars

I was just about to leave the merchandise tent when Pete and the Pirates turned up. They play a really low key acoustic set with some great pop harmonies although it is a little bit difficult to hear them over the booming sound coming from the main stage. What I could hear though had me tapping my feet!
3 stars

Back over to the last fm tent to catch Electric Soft Parade and this is another of the Marc Riley favourites and again I am surprised at how few people are here especially as they have played truck festival many times before. It does fill up however and they deliver a faultless performance playing songs from their new EP. It you like spiky pop delivered with humour then go and see them now.
4 stars

Hey, hey, hey, it’s the Go! Team and this is just what the festival needs on a Sunday evening when people’s thoughts are turning back to the weekly grind. If you have never seen Go! Team before you might wonder what the heck is going on. There seems to be three different camps on stage. Firstly the energetic hip hop singer, secondly the noisy indie boys and lastly the Japanese girls. At times it also sounds like three different types of music played together. It takes a while to get it but when you do, boy it hits you like a tonne of bricks. I have never seen so much energy on stage. There are high kicks a plenty from Ninja and she even gets the crowd involved at one point and I find myself singing along enthusiastically. Their percussion section really makes me smile as it is made up of kids toys, a xylophone and a typewriter! They play some new songs but it is old favourites like Ladyflash and the Power is On, that really gets the crowd moving.
5 stars

Well the festival is coming to an end and the last band tonight on the main stage is the Dreaming Spires, a collection of friends and festival organisers including members of Ride and the Ralfe Band and they play up tempo country numbers which are okay but don’t blow me away and I was just thinking this is a bit of a strange way to end the festival when the singer suddenly announces they will all be moving over to the Clash stage in half an hour to play the whole of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album and they will be joined by special guests. To be honest these ‘rumours’ had been flying all weekend but I wasn’t sure if it would really happen.

Okay, I grabbed myself another beer and position myself at the front for the finale to end all finales. The Dreaming Spires shuffle back on and who is that with them? It’s the Magic Numbers (not too much of a surprise as I saw Romeo Stodart in the Merchandise tent earlier in the day), They go straight into Second hand news and the crowd goes wild. There really is a great buzz here, without doubt the best atmosphere all weekend. As the album progresses the band are joined on stage by Trevor Moss And Hannah-Lou and various festival organisers. Go your own way is massive, the stage by now is crammed with people dancing singing and having a good time. The crowd aren’t doing bad either singing along loudly. I turn round to see a sea of smiles. Side one of the album ends with a beautiful version of songbird sung by Sarah Cracknell of St Etienne fame.

There is a small interval while the album is flipped over and they come back with everyone in tow to play the Chain. Everyone goes crazy as the familiar bass line plays out and the party atmosphere turns up a notch or two. ‘You make loving fun’ carries on the party and before we know where we are we are onto the last song. The already crowded stage is invaded by more truckers including the Truck monster and the cross-dressing guys from the bar. There are hugs and tears as the last notes ring out and one of the organisers shouts out “What album do you want next year?”
5 stars

This really was one of the best festivals I have ever been to, yes it was a little ragged round the edges and it wasn’t sleek and perfect but I hope it doesn’t change. Don’t be sad Glastonbury has turned into a corporate monster, we have the Truck festival!

Keep on trucking!



Photos by Dave Thorpe